It doesn’t matter if it’s in court or out of court, if you want to set a new standard
it has to be prior to the process at hand or hearing at hand.

Example: If a man is being tried in court for murder, and the law on sentencing
is 30-50 years, they can’t sentence him more than that standard or precedent.
They can’t set a new precedent while a case is in process. Now that’s not the
actual sentencing stipulation for murder, I was just using that as an example.

Another example.

If a company has a stipulation in its code of ethics, that a person will be suspended 1
week for using profanity in the office, and a worker uses profanity, they just can’t come
up with a new precedent without notice and terminate the worker. They have to follow
the precedent in place until notice is given( update the code of ethics).

This is why companies hand out TOS or COE whenever something is changed
or removed, so that workers are aware of the rules and regulations in the workplace.